On Wednesday American Airlines flight AA5342 collided with a US military helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington DC as it neared Ronald Reagan National Airport around 8:48pm local time. The crash has resulted in numerous fatalities,

Elon Musk pushed Federal Aviation Administration Chief Michael Whitaker from his post just 10 days before the deadly plane and Black Hawk helicopter crash over Washington, DC.

Air Traffic Control (ATC) audio from Wednesday’s collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet reveals the moments before and after controllers witnessed the disaster unfold.

Air traffic controllers asked Flight 5342 to switch runways when coming in to land. Black box recordings from the jet and the military helicopter it collided with will help reveal whether this contributed to the accident.

Investigators recovered the so-called black boxes from the plane, an American Airlines Bombardier jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, which collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River as it prepared to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night.

A preliminary FAA safety report revealed that at the time of the crash, staffing in the D.C. control tower was not at normal levels for the amount of traffic and time of day.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said late on Thursday he will soon announce a plan to reform the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after a devastating collision between an American Airlines regional plane and an Army helicopter killed 67 people.

An Oklahoma lawmaker with a lot of experience with the military and aviation said there are opportunities for improvement after the fatal plane collision in Washington, D.C.

President Donald Trump suggested without evidence on Thursday that the deadly midair collision of two aircraft in Washington was the result of the Federal Aviation Administration’s efforts to hire a more diverse workforce.

Federal authorities are asking questions as to how the collision between an American Airlines flight and a military helicopter could have occurred.

A 2023 report determined that over 99% of American airports lacked critical air traffic control staffing. Aggressively recruiting qualified employees was a top priority for transportation officials under President Joe Biden, but policy reversals last week pumped the brakes on hirings.